Reed Magazine is an annual literary journal published by San Jose State University. Two semesters of the Department of English and Comparative Literature's 133 class (comprising graduate and undergraduate students) solicit, edit, and promote the magazine for each year. It is the oldest literary journal based in California.[1]
Tracing its heritage to 1867 as The Acorn, the journal started as a mere pamphlet published by students of the California State Normal School, the precursor of San José State University. It was known as The Normal Pennant in 1898 (a reference to the California State Normal School), The Quill in the 1920s and El Portal in the 1930s. In more than a century and a half of publication, the journal’s name evolved until the end of World War II. Then, in 1948, it adopted The Reed, which was later shortened to just Reed. At that time, the magazine was put together by SJSU's literary society, Pegasus, with help from the Associated Student Body.
Reed honors James F. Reed, a survivor of the infamous Donner Party and a prominent citizen of early California. James Reed made a fortune during the Gold Rush and strongly advocated that San José be named the capital of the new state. While he failed in that ambition, he did keep his promise to donate five hundred acres to the state. The current campus of San José State—the oldest public institution of higher education on the West Coast, and the founding institution of the California State University system—now occupies that land.
San José has changed a lot since James Reed first settled here. Prune and apricot orchards have given way to skyscrapers and the headquarters of major corporations. A tiny farming community has grown into the tenth largest US city and the nation’s unchallenged center of technological innovation. A small teaching college has evolved into a vibrant university with the most diverse student body in the nation, and an international reputation for excellence.
Throughout these changes, Reed has remained a literary hub, publishing fiction, poetry, essays, profiles, and art from around the world. Reed is honored to feature the works of emerging authors alongside notable pieces by literary lions: nonfiction by Pulitzer Prize–winner William Finnegan, verse by U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass, fiction by PEN/Faulkner--winner T. C. Boyle, and National Book Award--winner Ursula K. Le Guin. In addition, Reed publishes original profiles of authors connected to the Golden State, examining their take on life and art. In keeping with their prestigious affiliates, Reed 156, features Poet Laureate of the United StatesJuan Felipe Herrera as judge of The Edwin Markham Prize in Poetry. A record breaking 4,000 poems were received, with the poem, the Children turn themselves into ICE, by Linda Ravenswood winning.[2]
The transition of numbering copies of Reed Magazine from 70 to 150 instead in 2017 was because the literary journal wanted to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
The last copy to use the term volume was Reed 66
After that, the magazine were labeled as "A literary Mosaic since..." for a couple years.
